The present invention relates to paint container holders supported by ladders, and, more particularly, to a paint container holder that may also support a utility/painter's tray.
In utilizing a ladder a painter is confronted with the problem of supporting a paint container or a tray in a position where it is convenient to add paint to the brush, roller, or other painting tool. It is notably inconvenient, and even dangerous, for the painter to use one hand to hold the paint container while wielding a brush with the other hand. In response to this problem, some ladders such as stepladders are provided with a fold-out shelf adjacent to the top thereof to support a paint can or tray. These fold-out shelves are notoriously unstable and unreliable, providing ample opportunity for the container to fall therefrom during normal use of the ladder.
There are other devices known in the prior art for supporting paint containers on ladders. These devices generally comprise brackets of various forms that are removably secured to rungs of a ladder, or the ladder rail, or some combination of the two. One notable example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,363, issued to the present inventor, shows a ladder bracket that provides a cantilevered hoop to support either a paint bucket or a utility/painter's tray. The latter implement is provided with a plurality of channel members extending downwardly from a bottom surface, the channel members disposed in confronting, spaced apart fashion to receive and engage therebetween portions of the hoop. In addition, guide blocks are provided at the bottom surface to define a gap in which the tang of the bracket may be received.
This arrangement permits the quick removal and substitution of a paint tray for a paint bucket, by merely lifting the bucket from the hoop, and installing the tray by sliding the tray channel members onto the hoop portions with the tang portion between the guide blocks.
In some situations it may be advantageous to fasten the tray to the ladder bracket more securely, as, for example, when it is desirable to assemble the tray to the bracket before the bracket is installed on a ladder. The present invention addresses this concern.
Also, it has been found that the prior art is replete with various forms of ladder brackets having hoop portions of differing diameters. It would be advantageous to be able to fabricate and sell one painter's tray that is adapted to securely engage and be supported by the ladder brackets of various diameters. The present invention addresses this concern, also.